Tigre language

Tigre
ትግረ (Tigre) / ትግሬ (Tigrē) / ትግራይት(Tigrayit)/ ኻሳ (Xasa)[1]
Native to Eritrea
Ethnicity Tigre
Native speakers
 1,390,000 (2010)[2]
Language codes
ISO 639-2 tig
ISO 639-3 tig
Glottolog tigr1270[3]

Tigre (Ge'ez: ትግረ tigre or ትግሬ tigrē), better known in Eritrea by its autonym Tigrayit (ትግራይት), and also known by speakers in Sudan as Xasa (Arabic: الخاصية‎ ḫāṣiyah), is an Afroasiatic language spoken in Northeast Africa. It belongs to the North Ethiopic subdivision of the family's South Semitic branch and is primarily spoken by the Tigre people in Eritrea. Along with Tigrinya, it is believed to be the most closely related living language to Ge'ez, which is still in use as the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Tigre has lexical similarity, 71% with Ge’ez and 64% with Tigrinya.[4] As of 1997, Tigre was spoken by approximately 800,000 Tigre people in Eritrea.[5] The Tigre mainly inhabit western Eritrea, though they also reside in the northern highlands of Eritrea and its extension into the adjacent part of Sudan, as well as Eritrea's Red Sea coast north of Zula.

The Tigre people are not to be confused with their neighbors to the south, the Tigrayans of Eritrea and Ethiopia, who speak Tigrinya. Tigrinya is also derived from the parent Ge'ez tongue, but is quite distinct from Tigre despite the similarity in name.

Dialects

There are several dialects of Tigre, some of them are; Mansa’ (Mensa), Habab, Barka (Beni-Amir), Semhar, Algeden, Senhit (Ad-Tekleis, Ad-Temariam, Bet-Juk, Marya Kayah, Maria Tselam) and Dahalik, which is spoken in Dahlak archipelago. Intelligibility between the dialects is above 91% (except Dahalik), where intelligibility between Dahalik and the other dialects is between 24% to 51%.[6]

Sounds

Tigre has preserved the two pharyngeal consonants of Ge'ez. The Ge'ez vowel inventory has almost been preserved except that the two vowels which are phonetically close to [ɐ] and [a] seem to have evolved into a pair of phonemes which have the same quality (the same articulation) but differ in length; [a] vs. [aː]. The original phonemic distinction according to quality survives in Tigrinya and Amharic. The vowel [ɐ], traditionally named "first order vowel", is most commonly transcribed ä in Semitic linguistics.

The phonemes of Tigre are displayed below in both International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols (indicated by the IPA brackets) and the symbols common (though not universal) among linguists who work on Ethiopian Semitic languages. For the long vowel /aː/, the symbol 'ā' is used per Raz (1983). Three consonants, /p, p', x/, occur only in a small number of loanwords, hence they are written in parentheses.

As in other Ethiopian Semitic languages, the phonemic status of /ə/ is questionable; it may be possible to treat it as an epenthetic vowel that is introduced to break up consonant clusters.

Consonants
Labial Dental Palatal Velar Pharyngeal Glottal
Nasal m n
Stop voiceless (p) t č [tʃ] k ʔ
voiced b d ǧ [dʒ] ɡ
ejective (pʼ) tʼ č' [tʃʼ] kʼ
Fricative voiceless f s š [ʃ] (x) ħ h
voiced z ž [ʒ] ʕ
ejective sʼ
Approximant l y [j] w
Rhotic r
Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i ə [ɨ] u
Mid e o
Open a, ā [aː]

Consonant length

Consonant length is phonemic in Tigre (that is, a pair of words can be distinct by consonant length alone), although there are few such minimal pairs. Some consonants do not occur long; these include the pharyngeal consonants, the glottal consonants, /w/, and /j/. In this language, long consonants arise almost solely by gemination as a morphological process; there are few, if any, long consonants in word roots. Gemination is especially prominent in verb morphology.

Grammar

These notes use the spelling adopted by Camperio (1936 - see bibliography) which seems to approximate to Italian rules.

Nouns are of two genders, masculine and feminine.

  • Indefinite article: masculine uoro e.g. uoro ennas - a man; feminine hatte e.g. hatte sit - a woman.
  • The definite article, "the", when expressed, is la.

As we might expect from a Semitic language, specifically feminine forms, where they exist, are often formed of an element with t:

  • masculine: adök - donkey, ass; feminine: edghet - she-ass;
  • masculine: cöleb - dog; feminine: cölbet - bitch;
  • masculine: cadma - serving man; cadmaiet - serving-woman;
  • masculine: mamba - lord, master; mambait - lady, mistress.

In a similar way, sound-changes can also mark the difference between singular and plural:

  • ነጉስ negus - king; negüs - kings;
  • ወለት ualed - girl; አዋልድ ualid - girls;
  • መሆር mähör - foal, colt; አምሁር amhur - foals, colts;
  • ነቢ nebi - prophet; ነቢያት nabiat - prophets;
  • በገዐት beghät - one sheep; አባግዕ avāghe - sheep, plural;
  • አርዌ arwē - Snake;
  • ሖግ hog - foot; ሐነግ hanag - feet;
  • እገር eger - foot;
  • አዘን ezen - ear; አእዛን ésenz - ears;
  • ሰዐት saat - hour; ሰዓታትsaatat - hours;
  • አንፍ anöf - nose; አንፎታት anfotat - noses;
  • ህዳይ hödai - wedding; ሖዙዩም hözuiom - weddings;
  • አብ ab - father; avec - fathers;
  • ኮኮብ cochöb - star;ከዋክብ cauachib - stars;
  • ጓነ gāne - foreigner;ጓኖታት ganötat - foreigners;
  • ረአስ rass - head; አርእስ ares - heads;
  • ሰፈስ sefes - paw, hoof; atsfar - claws, hooves;
  • ከብድ kaböd - belly; አክቡድacbud - bellies.
  • ልባስ läbas- clothes

Personal pronouns distinguish "you, masculine" and "you, feminine" in both singular and plural:

  • አነ ana - I, me
  • እንታ enta - you, singular, masculine
  • እንቲ enti - you, singular, feminine
  • ህቱ hötu - he, him, it (masc.)
  • ህታ höti - she, her, it (fem.)
  • ሕነ hénna - we, us
  • እንቱም öntu - you, plural, masculine
  • እንትን öntön - you, plural, feminine
  • ህቶም hötom - they, them, masculine
  • ህተን höten - they, them, feminine

The possessive pronouns appear (a) suffixed to the noun, (b) as separate words:

  • my - (a) -ié የ example: chitabié ክታብየ- my book; (b) nai ናየ with masculine nouns; naie ናየ with feminine nouns;
  • your (sing. mas. & fem.) - (a) -cá ካ example: chitabcá ክታብካ- your book; (b) with masc. naica ናይካ, with fem. naichi ናይኪ;
  • his - (a) -ù ቡ example chitabù ክታቡ - his book; (b) with masc. naiu ናዩ, with fem. naiua ናያ;
  • our - (a) -na ና example chitabna ክታብና - her book; (b) with masc. naina ናይና , with fem. naina ናይና;
  • your (pl. masc. & fem.) - (a) -cum ኩም (a) -cın ክን example chitabcum ክታብኩም/ክታብክን- your book; (b) with masc. naicum ናይኩም , with fem. naicün ናይክን;
  • their - -om ቦም example chitabom ክታቦም- their book; (b) with masc. naium,ናዮም with fem. naiön ናየን.

The verb "to be":

  • ana halleco (o) tu - አና ሀለኮ I am; negative: ihalleco ኢሀለኮ- I'm not;
  • enta halleco (o) tu - እንታ ህሌካ you (sing. masc.) are; neg. ihalleco ኢሀለኮ- you're not;
  • enti hallechi tu - እንቲ ሀሌኪ you (sing. fem.) are; neg. ihalleco ኢሀለኮ;
  • hötu halla tu ህቱ ሀላ- he is; neg. ihalla ኢሀላ;
  • höta hallet tu ህታ ሀሌት - she is; neg. ihallet ኢሀሌት;
  • henna hallena tu ሕና ሀሌና - we are; neg. ihallena ኢሀሌና;
  • entum hallecum tu እንቱም ሀሌኩም- you (pl. masc.) are; neg. ihallecum ኢሀሌኩም;
  • entim hallechen tu እንትን ሀሌክን- you (pl. fem.) are; neg. ihallecum ኢሀሌክን;
  • hötön hallaa tom ህተን ሀሌያ- they (masc.) are; neg. ihallao ኢሀሌያ;
  • hötön halleia ten ህተን ሀሌያ - they (fem.) are; neg. ihallao ኢሀሌያ.

The verb "to be", past tense:

  • ...alco ዐልኮ- I was; negative: iálco ኢዐልኮ- I wasn't;
  • ...alca ዐልካ- you (sing. masc.) were; neg. iálca ኢዐልካ;
  • ...alchi ዐልኪ- you (sing. fem.) were; neg. iálca ኢዐልኪ;
  • ...ala ዐላ- he was; neg. iála ኢዐላ;
  • ...alet ዐለት- she was; neg. iállet ኢዐለት;
  • ...alna ዐልና- we were; neg. iálna ኢዐልና;
  • ...alcum ዐልኩም- you (pl. masc.) were; neg. iálcum ኢዐልኩም;
  • ...alchen ዐልክን- you (pl. fem.) were; neg. iálcum ኢዐልክን;
  • ...alou ዐለው- they (masc.) were; neg. iálou ኢዐለው;
  • ...alaia ዐለያ- they (fem.) were; neg. iáleia ኢዐለያ.

The verb "to have":

  • Uoro chitab bi-e ዎሮ ኪታብ ብየ - I have a book
  • Uoro chitab bö-ca ዎሮ ክታብ ብካ- You (sing. masc.) have a book,

and so on, with the last word in each case:

  • ...be-chi በ ኪ - you (sing. fem.), etc.
  • ...bu ቡ - he...
  • ...ba ባ - she...
  • ...be-na ብና- we...
  • ...be-cum ብኩም- you (pl. masc.)...
  • ...be-chin ብክን- you (pl.fem.) ...
  • ...bom ቦም- they (masc.)...
  • ...ben በን- they (fem.)...

The verb "to have": past tense, using a feminine noun as an example:

  • Hatte bēt álet-ölie ሐተ ቤት ዐልት እሉ - I had a house
  • Hatte bēt álet-ölca ሐተ ቤት ዐልት እልካ- You (sing. masc.) had a house,

and so on, with the last word in each case:

  • ...el-chi እልኪ - you (sing. fem.) had a house,
  • ...álet-öllu ዐለት እሉ- he had, etc.
  • ...el-la ዐለት እላ- she had...
  • ...álet-ölma ዐለት እሎምማ- we had...
  • ...álet-elcum ዐለት እልኩም- you pl. masc.) had ...
  • ...el-cön ዐለት እልክን- you (pl. fem.) had ...
  • ...álet-ölum ዐለት እሎም- they (masc.) had ...
  • ...álet-ölen ዐለት እለን- they (fem.) had ...

Writing system

Since around 1889, the Ge'ez script (Ethiopic script) has been used to write the Tigre language. Tigre speakers formerly used Arabic more widely as a lingua franca.[7] The Bible has been translated into the Tigre language.[8]

Ge'ez script

Ge'ez script is an abugida, with each character representing a consonant+vowel combination. Ge'ez and its script are also called Ethiopic. The script has been modified slightly to write Tigre.

Tigre Ge'ez Script
 äuiaeəowäwiwawewə
h ሀሁሂሃሄህሆ 
l ለሉሊላሌልሎ 
ḥ ሐሑሒሓሔሕሖ 
m መሙሚማሜምሞ 
r ረሩሪራሬርሮ 
s ሰሱሲሳሴስሶ 
š ሸሹሺሻሼሽሾ 
ḳ ቀቁቂቃቄቅቆቈቊቋቌቍ
b በቡቢባቤብቦ 
t ተቱቲታቴትቶ 
č ቸቹቺቻቼችቾ 
ḫ ኀኁኂኃኄኅኆኈኊኋኌኍ
n ነኑኒናኔንኖ 
ʾ አኡኢኣኤእኦ 
k ከኩኪካኬክኮኰኲኳኴኵ
w ወዉዊዋዌውዎ 
ʿ ዐዑዒዓዔዕዖ 
z ዘዙዚዛዜዝዞ 
ž ዠዡዢዣዤዥዦ 
y የዩዪያዬይዮ 
d ደዱዲዳዴድዶ 
ǧ ጀጁጂጃጄጅጆ 
g ገጉጊጋጌግጎጐጒጓጔጕ
ṭ ጠጡጢጣጤጥጦ 
č̣ ጨጩጪጫጬጭጮ 
p̣ ጰጱጲጳጴጵጶ 
ṣ ጸጹጺጻጼጽጾ 
f ፈፉፊፋፌፍፎ 
p ፐፑፒፓፔፕፖ 
 äuiaeəowäwiwawewə

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Tigre alphabet and pronunciation". Omniglot. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  2. ↑ Tigre at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016)
  3. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Tigre". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. ↑ https://www.ethnologue.com/language/tig
  5. ↑ Eritrean census figure cited by Ethnologue.
  6. ↑ Eritrean census figure cited by Ethnologue.
  7. ↑ "Tigré". Ethnologue. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  8. ↑ Senai W. Andemariam. 2012. The Story of the Translation of the Bible into Tǝgre. Ityopis 2:62-88. Web access

Bibliography

  • Camperio, Manfredo. Manuale Pratico della Lingua Tigrè, Hoepli, Milano, 1936.
  • Beaton, A.C. & A. Paul (1954). A grammar and vocabulary of the Tigre language (as spoken by the Beni Amer). Khartoum: Publications Bureau.
  • Elias, David L. (2005). Tigre of Habab: Short Grammar and Texts from the Rigbat People. Ph.D dissertation. Harvard University.
  • Elias, David L. (2014). The Tigre Language of Gindaˁ, Eritrea: Short Grammar and Texts. (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics, 75.) Brill.
  • Leslau, Wolf. (1945) Short Grammar of Tigré. Publications of the American Oriental Society, Offprint Series, No. 18. New Haven: American Oriental Society.
  • Leslau, Wolf. (1945), "The Verb in Tigré", in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 65/1, pp. 1–26.
  • Leslau, Wolf. (1945), "Grammatical Sketches in Tigré (North Ethiopic): Dialect of Mensa", in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 65/3, pp. 164–203.
  • Leslau, Wolf. (1948), "Supplementary observations on Tigré grammar", in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 68/3, pp. 127–139.
  • Littmann, E. (1897), "Die Pronomina in Tigré", in: Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 12, pp. 188–230, 291-316.
  • Littmann, Enno. (1898), "Das Verbum der Tigre-Sprache", in: Zeitschrift für Assyrologie 13, pp. 133–178; 14, pp. 1–102.
  • Littmann, Enno. (1910–15). Publications of the Princeton expedition to Abyssinia, 4 vols. in 4, Leyden.
  • Littmann, Enno. and Höfner, Maria. (1962) Wörterbuch der Tigrē-Sprache: Tigrē-Deutsch-Englisch. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag.
  • Nakano, Aki'o & Yoichi Tsuge (1982). A Vocabulary of Beni Amer Dialect of Tigre. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa.
  • Palmer, F.R. (1956). "'Openness' in Tigre: a problem in prosodic statement", in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 18/3, pp. 561–577.
  • Palmer, F.R. (1961). "Relative clauses in Tigre", in: Word 17/1, pp. 23–33.
  • Palmer, F.R. (1962). The morphology of the Tigre noun. London: Oxford University Press.
  • Raz, Shlomo. (1980). "Tigre syntax and Semitic Ethiopian", in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 43/2, pp. 235–250.
  • Raz, Shlomo. (1980). "The morphology of the Tigre verb (Mansaʿ dialect)", in: Journal of Semitic Studies 25/1, pp. 66–84; 25/2, pp. 205–238.
  • Raz, Shlomo. (1983). Tigre grammar and texts. Malibu, California, USA: Undena Publications.
  • SALEH MAHMUD IDRIS. (2015). A Comparative Study of the Tigre Dialects, Semitica et Semitohamitica Berolinensia, 18 (Aachen: Shaker Verlag, 2015)
  • Sundström, R. (1914). "Some Tigre texts", in: Le Monde Orientale 8, pp. 1–15.
  • Voigt, Rainer (2008), "Zum Tigre", in: Aethiopica (International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies), volume 11, Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz Verlag 2008, pp. 173–193.
  • Voigt, Rainer and Saleh Mahmud Idris. Zu einer neuen Grammatik des Tigre. Aethiopica 19 (2016, pub. 2017), 245–263.
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